To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
ATKINSON, Mr Barry Charles
For services to philanthropy and the community
Mr Barry Atkinson is a Gisborne business-owner and has contributed philanthropically to a range of organisations in the Gisborne and East Coast communities.
Mr Atkinson established his business Electrinet in 1994, which he has built into a substantial company with 54 staff. As Chair of the Gisborne Riding for Disabled for 15 years he led the organisation through a major upgrade project to establish an indoor arena, which is available to a wide range of equestrian users. As Chair of the Gisborne SPCA he led the organisation to become locally governed, financially stable and initiated a project to build a new animal centre for Gisborne. He provided leadership and sponsorship to the upgrading of the collapsing roof at the Trampoline and Gymnastic Centre, which would have otherwise been closed. He has sponsored local Relay for Life events, and speedway and golf venues. He was one of several business donors who, in partnership with the local District Health Board, built a diabetes unit at Tairawhiti Hospital. He is a Trustee of Hospice Tairawhiti. Mr Atkinson is a Life Member and Past President of the Poverty Bay Hockey Association and a Life Member of Gisborne Riding for Disabled.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
BARNETT, Mr Bryce Robert
For services to governance and philanthropy
Mr Bryce Barnett has contributed to governance and philanthropy in the Taranaki region.
As Chairperson of the Taranaki Rescue Helicopter Trust since 2012 Mr Barnett played a key role in overseeing the restructuring the Board and negotiating a grant of $1.5 million from the TSB Community Trust and TET Trust to save the Trust from insolvency and possible closure. This work saw him recognised as Taranaki Daily News Person of the Year in 2013. As a Trustee of the nationally significant Great War Exhibition he has been a driving force behind efforts to secure long-term sustainability for the exhibition, attracting corporate sponsorship and a restructure of the business to achieve a secure footing. He has been a Trustee of Puke Ariki Trust since 2007 and as Chair helped establish Puke Ariki in New Plymouth as one of New Zealand’s finest provincial museums. Through his family’s Te Kukumara Trust he has raised significant funds to support sufferers of kidney disease and their families around New Zealand. He is a financial supporter of basketball in the Taranaki region and a Trustee of the East Taranaki Environment Trust. Mr Barnett is a Trustee of the New Zealand Heritage Trust and was previously a Trustee of Bell Block Primary School and New Plymouth Girls High School.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
BLAKEY, Dr Judy
For services to seniors
Dr Judy Blakey is an advocate for seniors and a researcher and educator specialising in ageing issues.
Dr Blakey has been a member of Auckland Council’s Senior Advisory Panel since 2014. In this role she has worked to ensure seniors’ issues are understood and incorporated into Council plans and policies, particularly around the issues of inclusiveness, housing and universal design. She helped organise a workshop on age friendly cities with the Auckland District Council of Social Services. She has been involved in ageing policy issues since 1999 when she became involved with research investigating hearing aid use in older New Zealand veterans. She has project managed research into the health of New Zealand Nuclear Test Veterans. She is a member of the New Zealand Association of Gerontology and Auckland University of Technology’s Centre for Active Ageing Advisory Committee. She has contributed health consumer perspectives to the Health, Quality and Safety Commission and Waitemata District Health Board. Dr Blakey currently chairs the Mairangi Art Centre’s (MAC) Board of Trustees. MAC is one of Auckland’s largest community art centres employing more than 25 tutors and servicing a diverse membership across the North Shore.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
BONNEY, Mr Calven Dennis
For services to the trucking industry and motorsport
Mr Calven Bonney has been an advocate for the trucking industry in New Zealand for more than 40 years.
Mr Bonney grew his own business from an initial three trucks to become a significant operator with more than 100 trucks. Alongside his business interests, he has served as a Director and President of the National Road Carriers Association, and as a Director and Chair of the Road Transport Forum New Zealand. He has been recognised by both organisations with life membership. He is regarded for his willingness to put the needs of the industry ahead of those of his own business. He has given strong support to the introduction of a wide range of practical safety and productivity policies across government and the industry. He has also had an enduring association with motorsport, as a driver and as an instigator of truck racing in New Zealand. He has provided transport and other support for major events, particularly as a long time sponsor of transport requirements for the annual Festival of Motorsport. Mr Bonney was one of the initial supporters of the Variety Club’s ‘Bash’, driving his own car in events and providing transportation and other services for cars coming into the country for the event.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
BRADLEY, Ms Elise Ruth
For services to music
Ms Elise Bradley, a founder and long-time member of both the New Zealand Choral Federation and Sing Aotearoa, is an award-winning conductor, internationally respected adjudicator and clinician, and an accomplished choral singer and soloist.
From 1977 to 1990 Ms Bradley taught music in Carterton, Wellington, Masterton and Auckland and held several college choir, youth choir and theatrical society directorships. As a music teacher and Head of Department, Choral Music at Auckland’s Westlake Girls’ High School she founded Westlake’s internationally renowned Key Cygnetures choir in 1992 and directed it until 2007. She was also Director of the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir from 2000 to 2007. In 2007 she was selected to become the Artistic Director of the Toronto Children’s Chorus, where she has led the performing of traditional Māori works as well as indigenous music from Canada. She is often invited to prepare and conduct the works of New Zealand composers internationally. She was a member of the Ethnic and Multicultural Commission of the International Federation for Choral Music from 2005 to 2008. Ms Bradley returns to work in New Zealand frequently, most recently in July 2016 to conduct the New Zealand Choral Federation’s inaugural National Children’s Honour Choir ‘Kids of Note’.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
BROOKES, Professor Barbara
For services to historical research and women
Professor Barbara Brookes is Professor of History at the University of Otago and has focused her research on gender relations in New Zealand and the history of health and disease in New Zealand and Britain.
Professor Brookes’ academic career has spanned four decades, including eight years as head of the University’s History and Art History departments from 2004. She has co-edited six books on women’s history and on health and two collections of essays on New Zealand women’s history. Her most recent publication is ‘A History of New Zealand Women’ (2016), a culmination of decades of research and New Zealand’s first narrative history of its women from the arrival of the first waka until 2015. She has produced ten books and 38 book chapters. She is currently co-editor of the New Zealand Journal of History and is on the editorial boards of ‘Health and History’ and the ‘Journal of Family History’. She played a key role in establishing the Staff Women’s Caucus at the University of Otago. In 2016 the University of Otago’s Centre for Research on Colonial Culture hosted the ‘Making Women Visible’ conference on New Zealand women’s history, which recognised Professor Brookes’ leading contribution in this area.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
BRUNSDON, Ms Heather Marie
For services to dance
Mrs Heather Brunsdon has been actively involved in promoting dance for approximately 50 years and has also contributed to dance in leadership and organiser roles.
Mrs Brunsdon was the Secretary of the Napier National Dancing Society for 26 years and organised Summer Schools for Highland Dancing for 20 years, instigating the first Highland Dancing Summer School in New Zealand. She has also been involved with many other genres of dance including Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary and Musical Theatre as an Examiner, Tutor and Adjudicator. She has been generous in her encouragement of dancers providing free tuition, providing costumes, dance shoes, courses, examination fees and travel expenses to help dancers reach their potential. Some of these dancers have gone onto full-time training overseas or followed professional careers in dance. She has organised dance performances at such local events as the Art Deco weekend and at the local RSA, retirement homes and schools. She has donated scholarships to the Napier Performing Arts Society annual dance competitions and Pointe shoes awards to the Hawke’s Bay Ballet and Dance Organisation. She is a former Australasian Examiner for the British Ballet Organisation and was previously New Zealand Representative for the Organisation. Mrs Brunsdon is now actively involved with the Australian Teachers of Dance in New Zealand.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
CHAMBERS, Mrs Sonia Claire
For services to people with disabilities
Mrs Sonia Chambers is Chief Executive of YES Disability Resource Centre, which encompasses 16 organisations working for disabled people across the North Shore community.
Mrs Chambers has been involved with YES Disability since 2010 and under her leadership YES developed the CUBE model to support young people and their families to participate in education, health, recreation and employment activities. She has headed multiple campaigns to improve the lives of disabled people across Auckland, including the anti-bullying campaign Icebreaker and mentoring programme Carabiner. She is currently heading the development of a new youth innovation centre on the North Shore of Auckland for youth of all abilities. After arriving in New Zealand from England in the 1990s she helped establish five clubs for disabled young people in Auckland. These grew into the successful Phabs clubs, which offer activities for all young people, disabled and able-bodied. She helped secure the premises for the North Shore Phabs club in Takapuna, which were completed in 2004. Mrs Chambers has been Honorary Advisor Disabilities to the Spirit of Adventure Trust since 2000 and has been responsible for finding suitable young people with disabilities for the Trust’s annual Inspiration voyage.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
CHAPMAN, Mr Nicholas John Cooper (Nick)
For services to education and conservation
Mr Nick Chapman has been Principal of Nuhaka Primary School since 1995 and has had a teaching career since the 1970s.
As Principal Mr Chapman has supported teachers to expand their roles and responsibilities, particularly to support priority learners, and opportunities for students to learn in Māori medium settings. He has driven a diverse programme of education outside the classroom (EOTC) events and led the upgrade of an outdoor education camp trailer, which is available to all Wairoa schools. Nuhaka School was the lead school for the Wairoa ICT professional development cluster in 2003/2004. He was instrumental in the return of the Computers at Home programme in 2015 and the establishment of the Kaupapa Ara Whakawhiti Matauranga computer programme, aimed at increasing the number of computers in East Cape schools, and with the Wairoa Assessment for Learning project. He is Chairperson of the Eastern Zone schools’ sports organisation committee and Chair of Wairoa Ross Shield Rugby Tournament organising committee. He has supported ecological education and conservation initiatives, including the planting of a native garden on land adjacent to Nuhaka School, the establishment and planting of the Mokotahi Reserve at Mahia Beach, and community clean-ups of the Mahia Peninsula. Mr Chapman is a member of the Wairoa Principals’ Association, the Rural Education Activities Programme, and Member Support for the New Zealand Education Institute.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
COLLIE, Mr Dugald Stuart (Stuart)
For services to agriculture and education
Mr Stuart Collie has contributed to agriculture through a range of positions since the 1970s.
Mr Collie was Chair of Federated Farmers Southland Arable Section from 1977 to 1981, later serving as Vice Chair and Chairman of the New Zealand Arable Section of Federated Farmers between 1981 and 1990. He was Vice President of Federated Farmers New Zealand from 1990 to 1996. He was a Director on the Southern Institute of Technology’s (SIT) Council from 2000 to 2010, serving as Deputy Chair from 2002 to 2009. During this time SIT underwent significant innovative change, including the implementation of the Zero Tuition Fees Scheme. He has been a Councillor, Deputy Chairman, and Chairman of Environment Southland between 1998 and 2010, during which time he held a range of committee chair and membership positions. During his time on the United Wheatgrowers Electoral Committee he was involved with the establishment of the Agrichemical Education Trust and the Grow Safe accreditation system to raise the standards of agricultural chemical use, which remains in use today. Mr Collie served on the Southland Harbour Board for a number of years.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
COOK, Mr Allan David
For services to river and drainage engineering
Mr Allan Cook has had a 52 year career in public service, most prominently in the field of river and drainage engineering.
Mr Cook has been a senior executive with the Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council and contributed to and led many flood protection schemes involving millions of dollars of capital works, as well as providing leadership input into the emergency response and recovery for significant flood and drainage events, particularly over the past 15 years. Most significantly he led the infrastructural recovery following the 2004 Manawatu-Wanganui Regional floods, a recovery which took close to ten years. He has overseen the raising of flood protection levels for both Palmerston North and Whanganui. He provided support and advice on the use of temporary flood barriers in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquakes, as well as advice and personnel to other regions facing flooding events. The demands of community response have seen him attending meetings often outside of work hours, and his emergency response role has seen him work through nights to deploy staff for evacuations and physical work intervention, extra duties which were not remunerated. Mr Cook was an elected member of the Marton Borough Council from 1980 to 1989 and of the Rangitikei District Council from 1989 to 1992.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
DARK, Mr Vernon John (Vern)
For services to business and education
Mr Vern Dark was the Chair of the NorthTec Council and has contributed his experiences to many commercial enterprises in the Northland Region.
Mr Dark was the Managing Director of Fletcher Challenge Petrochemicals, Chief Executive of the Northland Dairy Co-operative and Chief Executive of the Northland Port Corporation. He is currently a board member of several commercial enterprises, including Counties Power and Invivo Wines. As Chair of NorthTec Council he was instrumental in maintaining the Institution’s profitability through a period of funding cuts. He has worked to ensure that tertiary education is available across the Northland Region and, under his guidance, courses are now delivered at 58 sites. When he first inherited NorthTec it carried a debt of $8 million in the form of a Crown Loan commitment, but under his leadership NorthTec now holds reserves of approximately $20 million and he is overseeing the start of a Raumanga Campus rebuilding project worth $10 million. Mr Dark has ensured that NorthTec supports the local community and reaches out to those who most need assistance, whilst maintaining a sustainable business model.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
DAVENPORT, Professor Sally
For services to science
Professor Sally Davenport has more than 25 years’ experience as a researcher, manager and educator in the fields of science, technology, management and innovation.
Professor Davenport took up the role of lecturer in the management of science and technology at Victoria University of Wellington in 1991. She was Head of the Victoria Management School from 2009 to 2011 and in 2011 was appointed an inaugural Commissioner of the Productivity Commission. She has been an Associate Investigator of the MacDiarmid Institute for Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials and Associate Dean of VUW’s Faculty of Commerce and Administration. She served as investigator and leader of three major Foundation for Research, Science and Technology grants focusing on the growth of high-tech firms and was a principal investigator at Te Pūnaha Matatini. She has been a member of scholarship selection and grant-making panels and has held a range of advisory roles within academia and for professional groups, the Royal Society, and central government. Since 1998 she has served as the New Zealand Correspondent to the International Association for the Management of Technology, and has represented New Zealand at the United States-based Academy of Management’s Technology and Innovation Management Division. In 2017 Professor Davenport was appointed leader of the newly-established Science for Technological Innovation National Science Challenge.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
DAWSON, Ms Elizabeth Anne (Liz)
For services to sports governance
Ms Liz Dawson has been involved in sports management and governance for more than 20 years and was the first female Chief Executive of an Australian Rugby League club and the first female member of a Super Rugby franchise.
Ms Dawson was appointed Marketing Manager of the New Zealand Rugby Union in the early 1990s. She then became General Manager Marketing for the Warriors rugby league team in their inaugural year. She moved to Australia in the role of Chief Executive of the Adelaide Rams, a start-up team in the short-lived Super League competition. She then became General Manager of the North Queensland Cowboys rugby league team. She returned to New Zealand to become an independent director of the Hurricanes Super Rugby team, a Trustee of the Wellington Regional Stadium Trust, and a director of the New Zealand Racing Board. She contributed to the development and delivery of the New Zealand Rugby Union’s bid to host Rugby World Cup 2011. Ms Dawson is currently a director of the AFL Club St Kilda, Deputy Chair of the New Zealand Olympic Committee, a member of the Oceania Olympic Women and Sport Commission, a member of the New Zealand Rugby Respect and Responsibility Review panel, and a Board member of New Zealand Cricket.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
DONNE, Ms Melanie Jane (Merenia)
For services to training disability assistance dogs
Ms Merenia Donne founded Kotuku Foundation: Assistance Animals Aotearoa (KFAAA) in 2006.
KFAAA is the only New Zealand charity to have gained membership of Animal Assisted Intervention International and the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners. KFAAA is New Zealand’s sole professionally equipped provider of trained assistance dogs for people with life-threatening medical conditions and also provides disability assistance dogs to help people with a range of challenging impairments in their daily lives. Since KFAAA’s inception Ms Donne has continuously expanded the range of assistance dogs that the organisation offers, initially specialising in training dogs for medical conditions such as diabetes, anaphylaxis, narcolepsy, Addisons disease and pain seizures, to those with neurological injuries and psychological disorders such as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Alzheimers and PTSD. KFAAA has become a world-leader in training diabetic response dogs, which can detect early signs of a diabetic incident and reduce the need for medical intervention. Ms Donne has recently extended the Foundation’s training programme to provide assistance dogs for military veterans. She also piloted a pioneering ‘Heeling Hounds’ programme in collaboration with Women’s Refuge and Greyhound adoption group GAP, and has established relationships with organisations such as the New Zealand Police Dog Training Centre, The University of Auckland, Massey University, Diabetes NZ and the RSA.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
ELLIS, Ms Jennifer (Jenny)
For services to education
Ms Jenny Ellis was Principal of New Plymouth Girls’ High School (NPGHS) from 2005 to 2016 and has had a career in education of more than 40 years.
Ms Ellis oversaw significant increases in NCEA achievement rates at every level and scholarship awards, as well as greatly improving Māori achievement and retention rates at senior school. She was instrumental in establishing the Wai Ora Wellness Centre, a performing arts centre and fitness centre at the school. She also supported the development of the Awhina learning support centre and the special needs unit, Waimarie. Wai Ora provides a range of services to students and staff from counselling to an Adolescent Health Clinic. A partnership with New Plymouth Boys’ High School provides opportunities for boys with very high needs to attend Waimarie. In 2008 NPGHS implemented a Building Positive Relationships approach focusing on restorative methodology to manage student behaviour. She supported the creation of the Tuhonohono tutor group, through which student leadership opportunities are developed and was a founding member of the Honohono committee. She helped develop and introduce the Tumanāko mentoring programme to improve outcomes for Māori students. Ms Ellis has fostered relationships with local iwi, developed a robust pastoral care system, and built strong relationships between the school and parents.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
ELLISON, Ms Suzanne Louise
For services to Māori, the arts and governance
Ms Suzanne Ellison is an iwi manager and researcher who has made a long-standing contribution to community development and culture and heritage.
Ms Ellison began her career with iwi community development when she joined Ngāi Tahu as a Communication and Development Officer in 1990. One of her roles was as Arts and Heritage Manager for the Ngāi Tahu Development Corporation, of which she has also been a senior manager for 10 years. She chairs the Board of the Ngāi Tahu Fund, which funds local and national initiatives such as traditional art workshops, environmental revitalisation projects, and investigations into whanau whakapapa and history to strengthen Ngāi Tahu culture. She is a member of the Arts Council of Aotearoa New Zealand and previously served two terms as a member of Te Waka Toi, the Māori Arts Board of Creative New Zealand. She has previously been a member of the organising committee for Te Māori: Te Hokianga Mai at Otago Museum, a member of the Christchurch Arts Festival Trust Board, and as a Trustee of the Southern Lakes Festival of Colour Trust. Ms Ellison is a former member of the Otago Māori Executive, of the Permanent External Advisory Committee to the Arts School at Otago Polytechnic, of the Otago University Māori Affairs Board, and of Well Dunedin Primary Health Organisation.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
GOLDBLATT, Ms Virginia Mary
For services to arbitration and mediation
Ms Virginia Goldblatt has been a leader in the field of conflict resolution, alternative dispute resolution and mediation in New Zealand for many years.
Ms Goldblatt has been an independent mediator since 1994 practicing primarily in the employment, organisational, health and education areas. She was Senior Lecturer in English at Massey University from 1978 to 1998 and Senior Lecturer in Dispute Resolution from 1998 to 2013. She was instrumental in the establishment of the Massey University Dispute Resolution Centre and was Director from 2007 to 2012. She was a lead provider in a joint venture between Massey University and the New Zealand Law Society to develop and deliver mediation education for lawyers from 2010, initially focusing on family mediation and expanding in 2015 to cover civil and commercial mediation. She has contributed as an author to leading texts on mediation and has presented papers in New Zealand and at conferences internationally. Ms Goldblatt is currently a Fellow and Mediation Panel member of the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand and President of the New Zealand Chapter of the Australia and New Zealand Education Law Association.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
GOW, Mr John Leslie
For services to art
Mr John Gow and Mr Gary Langsford co-founded Gow Langsford Gallery in 1987 and have contributed to the growth of contemporary art in New Zealand.
Mr Gow has supported such notable New Zealand artists as Max Gimblett, John Pule, Judy Millar, Dick Frizzell, Shane Cotton and Paul Dibble. For the past 30 years Gow Langsford has mounted more than 500 exhibitions around New Zealand as well as internationally. The Gallery’s stable of represented artists now primarily consists of established artists from Australasia and offers limited places to mentor and exhibit new generations of artists. The Gallery has also presented museum-quality exhibitions for significant international artists and mounted significant historical exhibitions of artists such as Charles Goldie, Colin McCahon and Gordon Walters. Mr Gow has promoted New Zealand art at international art fairs and global exhibits, and as a result has been influential in securing opportunities for New Zealand artists with highlights including Max Gimblett exhibiting at the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh and John Pule at Neue Kunstverein, Berlin. Mr Gow is also Director of John Leech Gallery which now maintains a private heritage collection for public viewing by appointment. Mr Gow has sat on several advisory boards including the Spark Art Trust, the Mackelvie Trust Board, The Northern Club Art Committee and the Britomart Arts Trust.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
GUTHRIE, Dr John Clive
For services to education and sport
Dr John Guthrie established the University of Otago Business Case Competitions in 2004, having been employed in the University’s Department of Marketing since 1988.
Business case competitions involve teams of four students competing to develop the best strategy for a business. Dr Guthrie has organised regional, national and international business case competitions on a voluntary basis on top of his university workload. He initiated a competition between the University of Otago and the University of Waikato. He has coached Otago University teams to achieve success in international business case competitions. He was a founding member of the New Zealand Student Development Society (SDS) in 2007 and became Chairman in 2008. SDS has run a national league for business case competitions and has hosted an international competition for the past eight years. He has been Chairman of the International Business Association of Case Competition Coaches since its inception in 2010. Within the wider community he has been Chairman of the Transition to Work Trust since 2007, President of the Eastern Harbour Tennis Club since 1993, Executive Committee member of the New Zealand Masters Games from 1992 to 2002, and Otago Area Commissioner for Scouting New Zealand. Dr Guthrie orchestrated the formation of the Bayfield Park Community Sports Trust and initiated the construction of a sports pavilion at Bayfield Park.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
HARTLEY, Mr Denis Louis
For services to aviation and rescue services
Mr Denis Hartley has been involved with commercial aviation since the late 1950s, has flown helicopters since 1968, and was the founder and Executive of the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Service.
Using donations from the community Mr Hartley purchased rescue equipment, jaws-of-life, lighting equipment and initiated the first community-owned air-ambulance helicopter in New Zealand. The Eastland Helicopter Rescue Service evolved from his many helicopter rescues and air-ambulance flights, particularly those performed during Cyclone Bola in 1988 when he rescued people from rooftops, cars and flood-waters and performed air-ambulance flights and relief operations to isolated communities throughout the East Coast region. He established the East Coast Search and Rescue Squad and Tokomaru Bay marine communications. He equipped and trained Rescue Squads linked to the First Response Fire Brigade in each community from Tolaga Bay around the East Cape to Opotiki. He pioneered helicopter live-line human-sling powerline maintenance in New Zealand, a now worldwide procedure he introduced to China and India. He was a committee member of the New Zealand Aviation Industry Association Air-Ambulance Division, Helicopter Advisor for the Aviation Tourism and Travel Training Organisation, and Regional Safety Officer for the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority. Mr Hartley continues to be involved with the Coastguard and Ohope Lions.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
HAVEA, Dr Palatasa
For services to the Pacific community and the dairy industry
Dr Palatasa Havea is Chair of the Health Research Council Pacific Committee, having been a member since 2013.
Dr Havea was a member of the Minister for Pacific Peoples Advisory Council for 13 years, serving the last three as Chair. He is a Senior Research Scientist at Fonterra Research and Development Centre. He has led research projects that resulted in a new manufacturing process for separating the functional properties of whey protein from its nutritional value, allowing the addition of the protein at higher levels in many nutritional products. His research has led to a number of patents. He established the Pacific Category in the annual Manawatu Science Fair in 2015 to attract Pacific children to the sciences and technology. He has been an Elder at Church on Vogel in Palmerston North since 2005 and has been an advisor for Cornerstone Christian School, Lalangamo’ui Preschool Society, and Massey Pacific Advisory Committee. He trained youth leaders in the 1980s and has more recently set up programmes through his church to help children with literacy and numeracy. He has been involved with the International Student Ministry for 18 years and been a member of the Board of Trustees since 2006. Dr Havea has been engaged with short term mission service to Samoa, Vanuatu, Tonga, Australia, and Papua New Guinea.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
HILTON, Associate Professor Michael John
For services to conservation
Associate Professor Michael Hilton has made significant contributions to the progression of coastal management in New Zealand, particularly regarding sand dune restoration.
In his own time Associate Professor Hilton has researched, visited, and categorised most sand dunes left in New Zealand and developed a classification list of dunes of National Significance. He has worked for 20 years on Doughboy Bay and Mason Bay on Stewart Island. His work on Stewart Island has done much to preserve the last remaining West Coast transgressive dune system in New Zealand and the methods he has helped develop for weed management have become the template for the rest of the country. He has undertaken the science assessment at Kaiterete Spit and developed a plan to restore the site and has worked to solve urban erosion and changing sea level issues at St Kilda beach in Dunedin. He has more than 50 publications on dune restoration and processes, has freely shared his knowledge in public meetings and talks, and has involved students and volunteers in his field work. Associate Professor Hilton is a member of the New Zealand Marine Sciences Society, New Zealand Coast Society, International Geosphere-Biosphere Committee of the Royal Society of New Zealand, and the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
HYDE, Mr Noel Harold Selwyn
For services to wildlife conservation and research taxidermy
Mr Noel Hyde has been a lifelong advocate for bird of prey conservation, and a key contributor behind the development of the Wingspan National Bird of Prey Trust in Rotorua.
Mr Hyde is a specialist scientific bird taxidermist, preserving and collecting data for thousands of ornithological specimens over a 40-year career for all the major national museum research collections. He is one of New Zealand’s foremost feather identification experts. He has provided his expertise in assisting with academic field research and to the identification of feathered Korowai. His efforts over the course of thirty years resulted in the establishment of legal falconry in New Zealand. He formulated and contributed New Zealand support toward the successful international submission to UNESCO in 2010, for falconry’s inscription on the Representative List of ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’. Mr Hyde is a published researcher on New Zealand’s birds of prey and founder of the New Zealand Falconer’s Association.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
KAY, Dr John Stephen
For services to the New Zealand Defence Force
Dr John Kay has been employed as a scientist by the Defence Technology Agency and its predecessors for 37 years.
Dr Kay’s expertise covers the fields of underwater acoustics, ship signatures above and below water, ship defensive capabilities, air surveillance and most recently, space systems. He has worked in the international defence science community, leading New Zealand’s participation in international defence science research collaboration in areas including maritime, electronic warfare and sensor systems. He was selected in 2009 to lead New Zealand’s participation into a multilateral “Imagery Measurements and Signatures Research and Development Program”. He has successfully led New Zealand’s participation in this programme as well as leading a programme of research and development drawing on the efforts of many scientists, domestically and internationally. Due to the cutting-edge nature and rapid progression of the work he has led, he has also worked with policy leaders in other government agencies to ensure correct regulatory frameworks are in place. Dr Kay has become an internationally recognised leader in defence science and technology and most recently has made significant contributions in areas of space-based strategic intelligence systems.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
KNIGHT, Ms Nita Carol
For services to business and the community
Ms Nita Knight founded and has operated the Nelson Saturday Market for 39 years since 1978.
Ms Knight has overseen the market’s development into a community hub and visitor attraction for Nelson and has been an advocate for locally produced goods, art, craft and designers. The market has been an incubator for many businesses and products including Pic’s Peanut Butter, Anathoth Jam, Hogarth’s Chocolates, Pete’s Lemonade and Proper Crisps. She has supported local charities and schools by providing free or reduced-price stands at the market. Such organisations include the Nelson Hospice, Cancer Society, St John’s, the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association, and Young Enterprise Trust, the latter through which has enabled participating students to showcase and sell their products. She is known amongst stallholders for her pastoral care and has supported many people through difficult life events behind the scenes. She also served on the Nelson City Council from 1998 to 2004. Ms Knight has also been active in other organisations such as the Keep Nelson Beautiful Trust and as Patron of the Nelson Performing Arts Society.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
LANGSFORD, Mr Gary Keith
For services to art
Mr Gary Langsford and Mr John Gow co-founded Gow Langsford Gallery in 1987 and have contributed to the growth of contemporary art in New Zealand.
Mr Langsford has supported such notable New Zealand artists as Max Gimblett, John Pule, Judy Millar, Dick Frizzell, Shane Cotton and Paul Dibble. For the past 30 years Gow Langsford has mounted more than 500 exhibitions around New Zealand as well as internationally. The Gallery’s stable of represented artists now primarily consists of established artists from Australasia and Mr Langsford continues to bring in and mentor new generations of artists. The Gallery has also presented museum-quality exhibitions for significant international artists and mounted significant historical exhibitions of artists such as Charles Goldie, Colin McCahon and Gordon Walters. Mr Langsford has promoted New Zealand art at international art fairs and global exhibits, and as a result has been influential in securing opportunities for New Zealand artists with highlights including Max Gimblett exhibiting at the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh and John Pule at Neue Kunstverein, Berlin. Mr Langsford has sat on several advisory boards including Heart of the City, the New Zealand Contemporary Arts Trust and the Uptown Business Association.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
LIANG, Dr Renee Wen-Wei
For services to the arts
Dr Renee Liang is a practising paediatrician and award-winning librettist, short story writer, poet and playwright.
Since 2006 Dr Liang has written, produced and toured seven plays to critical acclaim, highlighting issues of ethnicity and cultural history. She has been published in poetry journals in New Zealand and overseas and been a regular instigator of poetry events in Auckland. Since 2012 she has delivered the New Kiwi Women Write Their Stories programme in collaboration with Auckland Council, engaging more than 250 writers and publishing eight anthologies of migrant women’s writing. She has co-led several ongoing community arts projects, including Metonymy, an arts collective initiating creative collaborations, and Funky Oriental Beats, a platform for Asian performing artists. She has contributed more than 100 articles to ‘The Big Idea’ website highlighting the work of New Zealand arts practitioners. She was librettist for ‘The Bone Feeder Opera’, which premiered at Auckland Arts Festival in 2017. She also helped write the successful production ‘Dominion Rd The Musical’. She co-created the interactive digital narrative ‘Golden Threads’ for Auckland War Memorial Museum, putting players in the shoes of early Chinese settlers to New Zealand. Dr Liang is the Asian theme leader for Growing Up In New Zealand, a longitudinal project studying the lives of New Zealand children.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
MACE, Mr John Leslie
For services to swimming
Mr John Mace has contributed to the sport of swimming since 1975 in a variety of roles.
Mr Mace has been Chairman of the Mt Wellington Swim Club and was Team Manager of the Auckland Swim Team and President of the Auckland Region from 1984 to 1990. He was a member of the organising committee and Head of Protocol for the 1990 Commonwealth Games held in Auckland. He served as Vice President and was President of the New Zealand Swimming Federation from 1992 to 1996. He was Chef de Mission for the New Zealand Aquatic Team in Rome in 1994, overseeing swimming, diving, water polo, and synchronised swimming. He represented swimming on the New Zealand Sports Assembly. He was a Trustee of the New Zealand Swimming Trust from 1992 to 2013 and served as Chairman, and as Chairman of the Awards Committee. He played a leading role in restructuring the sport of swimming, leading to the review of Swimming New Zealand in 2012, at which point he was elected as President of Swimming New Zealand and concluded that term in 2015. Mr Mace has been a member of the Howick Chapter of Jaycees for many years, including time as President, and was also Deputy Regional Governor of the Northern Region.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
MATAHAERE-ATARIKI, Ms Donna
For services to Māori and health
Ms Donna Matahaere-Atariki has contributed to the health and education of Māori for more than 20 years and has represented Māori at a national level in a range of public forums.
In her early career Ms Matahaere-Atariki taught at the University of Otago prior to being Education Manager at the Ngāi Tahu Development Corporation and Executive Officer in the office of Te Runanga o Ngāi Tahu. In 2007 she was Executive Director and a founding Trustee of the Dunedin-based integrated health, education and social services provider Arai Te Uru Whare Hauora. From 2012 to 2014 she was Chief Executive of Ngāi Tahu’s former health subsidiary He Oranga Pounamu. She is a former member of the National Strategy Group for Early Childhood Education, the National Strategy Group for Race Relations, and the Ministry of Social Development’s National Advisory Council for Families and Community Services. She has been a member of a number of MSD taskforces including the National Taskforce on Family Violence. She is representative for the Māori health sector on the Ministry of Health’s NGO Council. Ms Matahaere-Atariki is Chair of Te Rūnaka o Ōtākou, a Trustee of Well South Health Network, University of Otago Council member, and a Trustee of Te Whare Pounamu, her local women’s refuge.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
MCARDLE, Mr Paul
For services to cycling and the community
Mr Paul McArdle founded the Bike On New Zealand Charitable Trust and he has contributed to improving public health through exercise.
Mr McArdle has been the driving force behind a range of programmes that seek to encourage people to use bikes to improve their fitness and enjoy the natural environment. In 2010 he established the Bike On NZ Trust and the Trust has successfully encouraged thousands of children to bike more regularly. He created the Bikes in Schools initiative that has so far helped more than 25,000 school children across 90 schools get access to a bike on a regular basis at school. His efforts have also enhanced the students’ competency and awareness of road safety. In 2010 he received a national Cycle-Friendly Award for being the Cycling Champion of the Year in recognition of his contributions to cycling in schools. Mr McArdle was the driving force behind the Hasting District Council’s successful Model Community application, the iWay Programme, which has provided an extension of 54.5 kilometres of both on-road cycle lanes and off-road pathways.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
MOANA-TUWHANGAI, Ms Maxine Huirangi Grace
For services to governance and Māori
Ms Maxine Moana-Tuwhangai is a governance professional with more than 15 years’ leadership experience within Māori business, education and the public sector.
Ms Moana-Tuwhangai is the immediate past Chairman of Waikato Tainui’s iwi authority, Te Whakakitenga o Waikato Inc., and has represented iwi on steering committee and joint management committees with Hamilton City Council, Waipa District Council, Waikato District Council, Waikato Regional Council, and Mighty River Power. She is a board member of Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu, the Duke of Edinburgh Hillary Awards Trust, and Chairman of the Upper Central Zone Board for New Zealand Rugby League. She has had roles on the Boards of the Waikato Institute of Technology, Maritime New Zealand, the Counties Manukau District Health Board where she also chaired their Māori Health Advisory Committee, and as Trustee and Chairman of the Northern Region Health School. She has been the Chairman of Te Kete Manaaki Health Services Trust, Secretary of the Te Maika Land Trust, Chairman of the Proprietors of Taharoa C Block Inc., and President of the Turangawaewae Branch of the Māori Women’s Welfare League. Ms Moana-Tuwhangai has been Operations Manager of Early Childhood Education and Care at Te Wananga o Aotearoa, Group Accountant for Tainui Group Holdings, and Team Leader of Financial Accounting at Environment Waikato.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
MOLTZEN, Emeritus Professor Roger Ian
For services to education
Emeritus Professor Roger Moltzen has played an important leadership and advisory role in shaping the direction of gifted and talented educational provisions in New Zealand.
Emeritus Professor Moltzen took up a position at the University of Waikato Faculty of Education after 20 years as a teacher and principal. He has held a number of leadership roles at the University, including Director of Postgraduate Special Education Programmes, foundation Chair of the Department of Human Development and Counselling, and Faculty Dean from 2011 to 2016. He chaired a Gifted Education Ministerial Working Party in 2011, which successfully recommend a range of initiatives, including a mandatory requirement for all schools to identify and make provisions for their gifted and talented students. He has served on several Ministry of Education advisory and governance groups and co-authored the Ministry publication ‘Gifted and Talented Students: Meeting their Needs in New Zealand Schools’. He has co-edited three editions of ‘Gifted and Talented: New Zealand Perspectives’ and contributed to numerous national and international publications, including the ‘International Handbook of Giftedness and Talent’. As an academic Emeritus Professor Moltzen has had a longstanding commitment to teacher professional learning.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
MOORE, Mr Cameron Cooper (Cam)
For services to the manufacturing industry and the community
Mr Cam Moore has been a member of the New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association (NZMEA) Council since 1986 and was President from 2000 to 2002.
Mr Moore has held the voluntary positions of NZMEA Board member and Director of Mancan Foundation since 1995. He was a member of the New Zealand Institute of Management Southern Board from 1987 to 2006 and was President from 1995 to 1996. He is a current Alan Crothall Fund Trustee. He played a major role in the development of the Plastics Institute of New Zealand, served as national President, and is a Life Member. He was a Board member of the Canterbury Development Corporation from 2001 to 2010 and was Deputy Chair from 2008. He was a Board member of Core Education from 2003 to 2013 including time as Chair. He has been involved with Scouts in New Zealand since 1978. He has been Chair of the Governance Board of Blue Skies since 1987, has been on the National Jamboree Organising Committee, and an Assistant Area Commissioner. Mr Moore’s involvement with the Anglican Church in Christchurch has covered a range of leadership positions with Anglican Care, the Christchurch City Mission, the Lyttelton Seafarers Charitable Trust, and the Parish of Fendalton.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
NAKHID, Dr Camille Elizabeth Anne
For services to ethnic communities and education
Dr Camille Nakhid is currently an Associate Professor at the AUT School of Social Sciences and Public Policy and she has been a prominent community leader and researcher on issues relating to ethnic communities, migrant identity and ethnicity within a social context.
Dr Nakhid has undertaken an extensive amount of research into a range of areas, including Māori and Pasifika educational achievement; family and community among Pasifika youth; factors impacting on migrant resettlement; and culturally relevant research methodologies. She was the inaugural Chairperson of the Auckland Council's Ethnic People's Advisory Panel. She has held a number of voluntary roles in various community and public sector boards, including as a founding and Executive Committee member of the Waitakere Ethnic Board from 2003 to 2013 and a member of the Henderson Community Board. She is the Chairperson of the Pacific Media Centre Advisory Board, AUT and is also Chairperson of the Migrant Action Trust. She is the founder and band manager of the Caribbeanz Southern Stars Steelband and a member of the Executive Advisory Board of the African Communities Forum. Dr Nakhid has been a member of several initiatives such as the Auckland Mayoral Task Force and the Social Policy Forum that have aimed to improve equitable wellbeing among New Zealand communities.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
NICHOLSON, Dr Suitafa Deborah Ryan (Debbie Ryan)
For services to the Pacific community and health
Dr Debbie Ryan has contributed to the improvement of Pacific and public health outcomes for more than 20 years.
Dr Ryan helped establish community primary care provider South Seas Healthcare. She served as Clinical Director of General Practice for three years and as the provider’s Chief Executive Director from 2001 to 2003. She was also Senior Lecturer of the University of Auckland’s Department of Medicine and Community Health. From 2003 to 2008 she was the Ministry of Health’s Chief Advisor of Pacific Health. In 2008 she founded Pacific Perspectives, a consultancy providing mentoring, Pacific strategy and policy inputs, and Pacific workforce and capability development to the public sector. Pacific Perspectives has undertaken consultancy projects for the Ministry of Health, Tertiary Education Commission, Statistics New Zealand and the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs. She is a past member of the Governance Group for the Ageing Well National Science Challenge and was a member of the Expert Advisory Group of the Medical Council of New Zealand’s Best Outcomes for Pacific Peoples project. She has held healthcare agency governance roles, a range of Ministerial Appointments and served on a number of Ministry of Health advisory and working groups. Dr Ryan has worked to facilitate Pacific professional networks, including the Aniva Alumni of Pacific Health Leadership programmes.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
PANIORA, Mr Hare
For services to Māori and education
Mr Hare Paniora has worked in education in New Zealand for more than 55 years and is currently Māori Advisor at Unitec Institute of Technology in Auckland.
Mr Paniora was instrumental in the development of Unitec’s Te Noho Kotahitanga (The Partnership – Māori and Pākehā working together) principles of practice in 2002. He was closely involved in the establishment of Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae at Unitec in 2009. He has 25 years’ experience as a Principal of primary schools throughout the North Island. He was Senior Lecturer in Māori Studies for eight years at the Auckland College of Education. In 2005 he was appointed kaumātua of Te Whakamaharatanga Marae. He is often called upon to conduct blessings for the opening of new buildings and to bless places where deaths have occurred, offering these services at no charge. He led a wānanga at his home Marae in Waimamaku in 2016 for 120 descendants on the history of the area, including tikanga marae, whai korero and karanga. Within the wider community Mr Paniora has given voluntary service on various associations and committees for organisations such as Matamata Rotary Club, Waikato East Principal’s Association, and Lions Clubs in Rawene, Taumaranui and Kumeu.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
PEAT, Mr Neville Douglas
For services to conservation
Mr Neville Peat has been involved in nature conservation and environmental advocacy for more than 30 years.
Mr Peat’s books on the natural environment include ‘Forever the Forest’ (1987), ‘The Falcon and the Lark’ (1992), ‘Wild Dunedin’ (1995), ‘Seabird Genius’ (2011), and ‘Rivers Rare’ (2016). He established the Dunedin Environmental Business Network in 1993 and was its Chair for five years. He has been a Trustee of the New Zealand Sea Lion Trust, Otago Peninsula Biodiversity Trust and Hereweka Harbour Cone Trust, and for six years chaired the Otago Natural History Trust, which established Orokonui Ecosanctuary. He has chaired the Pukekura (Taiaroa Head) Reserves Co-Management Trust Board since its inception in 2015. He wrote the Government nomination of the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands as a UNESCO World Heritage Area, which was listed in 1998. In 2007 he was awarded the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writers’ Fellowship to write ‘The Tasman – Biography of an Ocean’ (2010). During three terms on the Otago Regional Council until 2007, he chaired the Environment and Science Committee. He was elected to the Dunedin City Council in 2013 and has been Deputy Chair of the Community and Environment Committee. Mr Peat was a member of the Government-appointed South-East Marine Protection Forum from 2014 to 2017.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
PICOT, Mr Bruce (Pic)
For services to business
Mr Pic Picot established Pic’s Peanut Butter and has overseen the business grow over the past 10 years to become the best-selling peanut butter in New Zealand.
Mr Picot established Pic’s Peanut Butter as a one-person, garaged-based business in 2007, selling his product at the Nelson Market. The multi-million dollar business now comprises two factories and more than 35 staff and its products are exported internationally. He has promoted New Zealand business internationally, conducting product tastings at food shows and expos, speaking at high-profile events, and through a close working relationship with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. He has provided mentoring to numerous start-up business owners in the Nelson/Tasman region as well as nationally. He is a highly regarded member of the Nelson Chamber of Commerce. He has sponsored community organisations in Nelson including the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary, the Nelson Arts Festival, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Nelson. Mr Picot has provided management internships and work experience for students at the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology. In 2015 Pic’s Peanut Butter won the Supreme Award at the Nelson Chamber of Commerce Awards, as well as the Large Business and Innovation Awards.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
PRITCHETT, Mr Paul Ferrier
For services to yachting and the community
Mr Paul Pritchett has played a key role in encouraging the youth of Canterbury into sailing.
Mr Pritchett introduced the Optimist Sailing Dinghy to New Zealand in 1975. He instigated the New Zealand Optimist Dinghy Association and spent many hours travelling the country to promote the dinghy as the ideal child’s learner sailing boat, which has since been widely adopted around New Zealand. He founded the Water Activities Centre in 1986, through which Christchurch school pupils were able to learn safe sailing and associated water activities. He co-founded sailing for the disabled in Canterbury in 1989. He is a Life Member of the Charteris Bay Yacht Club and has been Commodore twice. He has chaired Canterbury Yachting Association committees and been Chairman of the Youth Committee of the New Zealand Yachting Federation. He has been an International Council member representing the New Zealand Flying Fifteen Association. He has been involved with Lyttelton Harbour Issues Group and the Lyttelton Harbour’s Waste Water Working Party. He was volunteer coordinator of safe water monitoring for Lyttelton Harbour and sampler in Church Bay between 1998 and 2010. Within the wider community Mr Pritchett has been involved with Probus and Lions Clubs, organised beach clean ups, tree plantings, and cliff track working parties.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
REIHANA, Ms Lisa Marie
For services to art
Ms Lisa Reihana is a multi-disciplinary artist whose large scale video installation ‘In Pursuit of Venus [infected]’ has represented New Zealand at the 2017 Venice Biennale.
‘In Pursuit of Venus [infected]’ was first exhibited at Auckland Art Gallery in 2015 and was the most visited solo exhibition by a New Zealand artist at the gallery since 1997, with 49,000 visitors. Ms Reihana has an extensive exhibition history in New Zealand and internationally. More recently her work was included in the inaugural 2017 Honolulu Biennial. Her works are held in private and public collections including Te Papa Tongarewa; Auckland Art Gallery; Australia National Gallery; Staatliche Museum, Berlin; Susan O'Connor Foundation, Texas and Brooklyn Museum, New York. Earlier in her career she was featured in the publication and documentary ‘Pleasures and Dangers: Artists of the ‘90s’, which highlighted eight emerging younger artists. In 2006 she was one of 15 New Zealand artists invited to take part in the Pasifika Styles exhibition and produced the work ‘He Tautoko’. She completed a major commission for Te Papa Tongarewa in 2008, installing the work ‘Mai I te aroha, ko te aroha’ at one of the entrances to the museum’s marae. In 2014 Ms Reihana was awarded an Arts Laureate Award by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
REO, Ms Sarah Mihiroa
For services to Māori and education
Ms Sarah Reo is the co-founder of education provider Cultureflow established in 2002.
Cultureflow developed innovative methods of delivering Te Reo and Tikanga Māori training programmes to encourage the uptake of Māori language amongst a new generation of learners. Cultureflow programmes are delivered throughout New Zealand to public and private sector organisations, not-for-profit groups, and Tertiary Institutes using a mixture of software, classes and one-on-one training. In 2006 Ms Reo co-founded Cultureflow China to use these technologies to deliver English language programmes in China. In 2008 she adjusted the business strategy to include more one-on-one tailored learning for clients and the redesign of the online systems to allow programme facilitation from anywhere in the world. Cultureflow won Best Regional Business (Wellington) at the 2003 Māori Women’s Development Inc. awards, whilst also receiving the Westpac Chamber of Commerce Award in 2009. She has contributed to Māori housing projects, mentoring programmes for young women, and employment programmes for the unemployed. Ms Reo is a Fulbright Platinum-Triangle Business Scholar, having graduated with an Executive Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Hawaii in 2017.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
SANGA, Professor Kabini Fa'ari
For services to education and the Pacific community
Professor Kabini Sanga is an Associate Professor in Education at Victoria University of Wellington.
Professor Sanga has been a Convenor and mentor of the Leadership Pacific Cluster a Victoria University since 2005. The cluster began with five students and has since grown to more than 100 students. More than 1,500 students have been mentored through the cluster and the initiative has facilitated further annual Leadership Pacific workshops across the Pacific, as well as the development of a Pacific leadership book. He has been a driver of various initiatives, including the Vaka Pasifika Education Conference for Pacific academics, students and community groups, and was a founder and convenor of the Rethinking Pacific Education Initiative for and by Pacific People from 2000 to 2008. He is a respected researcher of Pacific leadership, education and indigenous issues and has published and edited books and delivered at numerous conferences on these topics. He has been considered one of the originators of what has been called the Pacific Indigenous Research Paradigm. Professor Sanga has previously been a director of the Solomon Islands College of Higher Education, a secondary school principal, and a former director of the Institute of Education of the University of the South Pacific.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
SCANNELL, Father Barry
For services to the community and heritage preservation
Father Barry Scannell has contributed to the Society of Mary in New Zealand since 1994 and has ministered in Marist parishes in Hastings, Blenheim, Epsom and Pakuranga.
Since 2010 Father Scannell has been Parish Priest of St Mary of the Angels church in central Wellington. Following the 2013 Seddon earthquake St Mary was closed for urgent seismic strengthening work. He brought together a group of parishioners and established a plan for the strengthening work and how this would be funded. St Mary of the Angels is a Category A listed historic building, first opened in 1922. He has been a key driver of the raising of almost $10 million in donations and internationally recognised experts in architecture and construction were engaged for the project. He oversaw the continuation of Sunday Masses in other venues and provided continuous pastoral care for his parishioners during this time. He ensured the careful preservation of the Maxwell Fernie organ to be reinstalled in the Church and the resourcing of the three choirs associated with St Mary of the Angels throughout this period. The Church was successfully re-opened in April 2017. Father Scannell has supported Marist St Patrick’s Rugby Club as Chaplain and Chaplaincy Assistant at Wellington Hospital.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
SCOTT, Mr Lloyd Owen
For services to broadcasting, theatre and television
Mr Lloyd Scott has had a career in acting and broadcasting for more than 50 years.
After holding a variety of roles with the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC) in the 1960s and seven years as a 2ZM DJ in Wellington, Mr Scott branched out into roles in theatre and television in the 1970s and 1980s. He has since appeared in around 80 theatre productions over the years, including a range of musicals from ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’, to ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ and Gilbert and Sullivan Savoy Operas. Most recently he had a role in Wellington Musical Theatre’s production of ‘Sister Act’ in 2016. He has featured in iconic Toyota television commercials as Barry Crump’s sidekick Scotty. He was involved with several television shows including ‘Video Dispatch’, ‘The Enid Blyton Secret Series’, and ‘Shark in the Park’, as well as several feature film productions. He has been a broadcaster with Radio New Zealand National since 1989. Within the radio medium he has held roles as a commercial DJ, an actor in radio drama, news reader, and programme host. Mr Scott retired in 2017, having been one of Radio New Zealand’s regular overnight presenters for the past 13 years.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
SHERRY, Mr Philip James, JP
For services to local government and broadcasting
Mr Philip Sherry has had a career in broadcasting and local government and has supported the Catholic Church and community for more than 50 years.
Mr Sherry was a radio and television broadcaster and newsreader for Radio New Zealand News, Morning Report, TV1, TV2, and TV3 news and current affairs. He became a councillor for the North Shore City Council and the Takapuna Community Board in 1992. He represented the North Shore on the Auckland Regional Council from 1995 to 2004, serving two terms as Deputy Chairman. He was then elected to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council for four terms from 2004 to 2016, two as Deputy Chairman. He has supported a range of philanthropic causes and has most recently supported the Macular Degeneration New Zealand Society, campaigning pro bono to promote awareness of the disease. Mr Sherry is active within the Catholic Church, is a Knight of St. Gregory the Great, a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, and a Justice of the Peace.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
SKELT, Mr Nigel Dean
For services to badminton
Mr Nigel Skelt is Vice-President of Badminton New Zealand, General Manager of Stadium Southland, and has been a long term supporter of regional, national, and international Badminton.
Mr Skelt was a New Zealand representative Badminton player in 1979, and since then has been active in the sport’s administration, governance, management, coaching and mentoring. He has been President of Badminton Southland, and was President of Badminton New Zealand from 2004 to 2009. As Chair of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Marketing committee he has grown the organisation’s commercial revenues and product portfolio to increase the worldwide profile and accessibility of the sport. He was a founding member of the BWF Women in Badminton committee, and has worked to raise the profile of women in leadership roles in the Badminton community. Mr Skelt was co-project manager of the Stadium Southland re-development and project manager of the velodrome development.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
SMITH, Senior Constable Russell Hadden
For services to the New Zealand Police and youth
Senior Constable Russell Smith is the Prevention Constable, Community and Youth in Blenheim, and has introduced and championed youth development and community initiatives in the region.
Senior Constable Smith is a long serving member of the New Zealand Police, and has served as Community Constable in Blenheim since 1996. He completed a six month deployment to Timor Leste in 2010, and returned to the Community Constable role in Blenheim. Outside of his regular duties, he has developed and implemented an education and pastoral care package for Recognised Seasonal Employees in Marlborough; led the Marlborough Youth Trust as Chairman since 2007; and is a member of Safe and Sound at the Top Advisory Group, implementing safety programmes that resulted in Marlborough gaining World Health Organisation Safe Community Status in 2015. He is Secretary of the Marlborough Blue Light Trust, which delivers youth development activities across the region, and led the introduction of the Combined Adolescent Challenge Training Unit and Support (CACTUS) programme. He has also led the Street Intensive Project since 2008, working with communities to physically clean up private properties, building relationships within neighbourhoods and between residents and Police. Senior Constable Smith has a high profile in the community, providing community safety advice in a weekly radio show.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
SOUTHORN, Ms Fiona Angeline
For services to sport, particularly cycling
Ms Fiona Southorn is a paralympic cyclist who has represented New Zealand at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Summer Paralympics.
Ms Southorn won the bronze medal in the C5 individual pursuit at the 2012 London Paralympics. She has competed regularly in international and world championship events since 2002, consistently achieving top 10 placements and a number of medals. Most recently she won three gold and four bronze medals at the 2017 New Zealand Masters World games and has competed in the 2015 and 2016 New Zealand and World Duathlon Championships. From 2004 to 2013 she was a Sports Ambassador for SPARC (now High Performance Sport New Zealand) and undertook numerous visits to schools throughout the country and various speaking engagements to encourage young people to achieve in sport. She continues to visit schools in a voluntary capacity. From 2014 to 2017 she cycled from Wellington to Auckland as part of the BDO Corporate annual fundraiser, raising between $15,000 and $20,000 each year for various community charities. Ms Southorn has won numerous Northland sportsperson of the year awards in various categories.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
STANAWAY, Ms Susan Marie (Sue)
For services to philanthropy and the community
Ms Sue Stanaway is a real estate businesswoman who has been involved in local community philanthropy for many years.
Ms Stanaway has been a key member of the North Harbour Club charitable trust since 2008, which supports young people in their chosen fields through the annual AIMES Awards scholarship grants, a programme which has resulted in more than $1.85 million worth of grants to young people in the region since 1995. She has been a driving force in organising charity events and raising funds for the AIMES Awards. She has also served as an AIMES Awards judge and currently chairs the Junior AIMES Excellence Awards judging panel. She is a past Board member for the YES Disability Resource Centre, a non-profit organisation working to ensure people with disabilities are represented in governance, planning, and staffing. In this role she developed a fundraising strategy to help YES attain a freehold building, and then secured hundreds of thousands of dollars for this project. Since 2015 Ms Stanaway has also been General Manager of the Bayley’s Foundation, the sponsorship partner for Make-A-Wish New Zealand, and the supporter of other organisations including the Auckland Philharmonia.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
STEWART, Mr Mark James
For services to the community and sport
Mr Mark Stewart has used his business and governance skills in a voluntary capacity to support national and community organisations.
Mr Stewart was instrumental in establishing the Hororata Community Trust to help rebuild and promote the community following the September 2010 earthquakes. He has been a key driver behind the successful Hororata Highland Games, worked with the local Parish to fundraise for the St Johns Hororata Anglican Church, and is currently helping to develop a new community centre. He was a board member of New Zealand Football from 2008 to 2010 and inaugural Chair of the New Zealand Football Foundation, overseeing the distribution of $1.3 million in grants. He was a board member and Chair of the Mainland Football Federation between 2006 and 2012. In 2015 he was a key contributor to the FIFA Men’s U20 World Cup. He has provided mentorship to Youth Enterprise, the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme, and the University of Canterbury 21 Day Challenge. He has provided governance assistance to the Christchurch City Mission and St Andrews College with their fundraising efforts. He has been the Honorary Consul for Malaysia in Christchurch since 2001. Mr Stewart is currently Chair of the Antarctic Heritage Trust Board.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
TIPENE-LEACH, Dr David Collins
For services to Māori and health
Dr David Tipene-Leach is a General Practitioner who has spent his working life promoting Māori health in rural and urban Māori communities around Ruatoki, Whakatane, Gisborne, East Coast and Hastings.
Dr Tipene-Leach has spent the last two decades finding innovative approaches to address sudden unexpected death in infancy, including leading the design and development of wahakura (flax bassinet) and actively lobbying to obtain funding for wahakura to be provided as part of an infant safe sleep programme. He has also researched, published and presented widely on diabetes among Māori, which led to his being awarded a Distinguished Fellowship from the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners. Dr Tipene-Leach was inaugural chair of Te Ora, the Māori Medical Practitioners Association, has been a member of various medical review committees, has taught Māori health to medical students and public health to trainee medical officers in Micronesia, and is Chair of the Heretaunga Tamatea Treaty of Waitangi Claim Board.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
TOGI-SA'ENA, Ms Petrina Marie
For services to Pacific music
Ms Petrina Togi-Sa’ena is a Trustee of the Pacific Music Awards Trust and has been Event Producer for the past 10 years, having been involved since the event’s inception in 2005.
Ms Togi-Sa’ena was the Manager of Member Services for the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) New Zealand from 1994 to 2014. APRA is a non-profit organisation that administers the rights of music creators and she has worked directly with New Zealand songwriters and composers to deliver APRA’s services. She has presented at copyright workshops in Samoa and Rarotonga to support the development of copyright systems in the Pacific. She worked at the New Zealand Music Commission from 2000 to 2002, where she was involved in a number of projects regarding Pacific music. She was a Trustee from 2012 to 2017 of the Crescendo Trust of Aotearoa, which supports young people through music. In 2013 she co-founded SoulNote Agency and has worked with artists for recording and life music projects, as well as education workshops and events. She was part of the organising team for the ‘I Love the Islands’ concert series, which raised $361,000 for Samoa following the 2009 tsunami. Ms Togi-Sa’ena has been an Advisory Group member for the Auckland Museum’s 2016/2017 music exhibition ‘Volume’.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
TRUMAN, Ms Maureen Vida
For services to education
Mrs Maureen Truman is a primary school principal who has been teaching for more than 40 years in London, Greymouth, and Christchurch.
Mrs Truman has been Principal of Karoro School south of Greymouth for the past 10 years. She has been a mentor for Beginning Principals for the last three years. She was a Board member for Greymouth High School from 1998 to 2007 and Chairperson from 2001 to 2007. She has been a member since 2006 of the Marsden Valley Advisory Board, which runs a Learning Experiences Outside the Classroom centre. She has served as Secretary of the West Coast Principals’ Association. She helped establish a local Learning and Change Network, called The West Coast Way, a collaborative groups of schools exploring future-focused learning environments and accelerating achievement for students in the region who are not attaining national expectations for numeracy and literacy. She was instrumental in helping establish the Māwhera Community of Learning with a cluster of 10 schools in her region. Mrs Truman was a driving force in the West Coast Schooling Improvement project in 2005.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
TYSON-NATHAN, Mrs Pania
For services to Māori and business
Mrs Pania Tyson-Nathan is Chief Executive of New Zealand Māori Tourism (NZMT) and has contributed to Māori economic development across business and government sectors.
Mrs Tyson-Nathan has led NZMT since 2008, working to transform the stereotypical entertainment concept of Māori culture for visitors, focusing on a deeper cultural understanding and a broader range of Māori tourism experiences and building a strong commercial and cultural leadership in the sector. She is a member of the Māori Economic Development Board, a member of the Ministerial Advisory Group on Trade, and a member of the New Zealand Film Commission Board. In 2016 she was appointed to the Kahungunu Asset Holding Company Board of Directors. She has previously been Director of the APEC Business Coalition in the lead up to and following New Zealand’s hosting of APEC in 1999, and was the New Zealand focal point for the Women’s Leaders Network until 2005. Mrs Tyson-Nathan has worked on fundraising activities for many years with particular focus on the 28th Māori Battalion.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
WALLIS, Mr Graeme Richard
For services to music
Mr Graeme Wallis has been a significant contributor to the music scene in Christchurch for more than 40 years and has held numerous leadership positions within Canterbury music organisations.
Mr Wallis has held various leadership positions with the Avonhead Rotary Club since 1984 and has led several fundraising projects, including a leading role in the fundraising for the purchase and installation of a pipe organ at the Christchurch Town Hall in 1997. He is currently Chairperson of the Friends of the Arts Centre of Christchurch. He has been President of the Christchurch Civic Music Council since 2006 and Chairperson of Christchurch Civic Music Council Concert Programmes since 2011. He is the Past President of the Specialist Music Programme and Chairperson of the National Concerto Competition Trust and the Voice of Music Committee. He is a Life Member of the Christchurch School of Music, the Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival Association and the Specialist Music Programme. He has presented at international conferences in New Zealand, Canada, and in London, and has chaired organising committees for national music conferences. Mr Wallis has been Musical Director of the Christchurch Operatic Society, Patron of the Friends of the Christchurch School of Music Support Trust, and was President of the New Zealand Society for Music Education in 1989.
To be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
WILLIAMS, Dr Haare Mahanga Te Wehinga, JP
For services to Māori, the arts and education
Dr Haare Williams is a teacher, artist, and broadcaster who has made a significant contribution throughout his career to bettering the educational attainment and social and cultural outcomes of Māori.
As an Executive Director of the New Zealand 1990 Commission, Dr Williams was responsible for waka construction and assembly at Waitangi for the 1990 commemorations. He set up a joint venture with the South Seas Film and Television School to train te reo speakers as producers and operators in film and television. He taught at Unitec from 1994 to 2002, first as a tutor and then as Dean of Māori Education, before becoming the first Māori Advisor to the Chief Executive. He has contributed to education through curricula development and broadening understanding around Te Ao Māori and the Treaty of Waitangi. He was a pioneer in Māori broadcasting as the General Manager of Aotearoa Radio. He has worked closely with iwi claimant communities collecting and preparing iwi oral testimonies for presentation to the courts and the Waitangi Tribunal. He has published poetry, exhibited painting, and writes scripts and lyrics for film and television. Dr Williams has worked as a cultural advisor for the Mayor of Auckland and has held the position of Amorangi at the Auckland War Memorial Museum since 2011.
Honorary MNZM
To be an Honorary Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
FINAU, Mrs Valeti
For services to education and the Pacific community
Mrs Valeti Finau has provided voluntary service and support to the Tongan community in Wellington for many years, with a particular focus on secondary and tertiary education.
Mrs Finau is the founder and director of Laulotaha, a mentoring programme helping Pacific Island students achieve success in education in Wellington in Auckland since 2011. Since 1986, she has promoted tertiary studies to Pasifika communities, including supporting many students from Tonga in her own home while they completed their studies. She was a foundation staff member of Whitireia Polytechnic, tutoring the Foundation Nursing programme and serving as Liaison Officer. She set up the first tertiary Pacific Advisory Committee at Whitireia, and established links with education providers in Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea to provide New Zealand accredited programmes. She set up the Tupou Tertiary Institute in Tonga to teach full time New Zealand accredited programmes. Mrs Finau is also a member of the Vahefonua community outreach group, and is a lay preacher and Parish Steward.
To be an Honorary Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
INOUE, Mr Noriyuki
For services to New Zealand-Japan relations
Mr Noriyuki Inoue has been New Zealand’s Honorary Consul-General in Osaka since 2001, where he has provided effective consular services for New Zealanders in the wider Kansai region and promoted Japan’s trade and economic relationship with New Zealand.
Mr Inoue has been a strong supporter of the New Zealand-Japan Partnership Forum. He is currently Chairman of Daikin Industries Ltd, one of Japan’s leading global companies, having previously been CEO from 1994 to 2014. Under his leadership Daikin has also upgraded its commercial presence in New Zealand to a fully stand-alone Daikin New Zealand subsidiary company. Mr Inoue as Honorary Consul-General has hosted events for high-level visitors from New Zealand to the Kansai region.
To be an Honorary Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
KIATA, Mr Charles Enoka
For services to the Pacific community
Mr Charles Kiata is a leader among the Kiribati community in New Zealand and especially the Waitakere region.
Mr Kiata was a founding member of the New Zealand Kiribati National Council, a governance body for all New Zealand’s Kiribati community groups. He was also involved in the establishment of other Kiribati groups including Waitakere Kiribati Community in 2005, of which he is a member and past President. He was a founding member and later director and administrator of the Pasifika Migrant Services Charitable Trust, which focuses on settling and assisting newcomers from smaller Pacific Islands. He was a pioneer in Kiribati language broadcasting and produces and presents radio programmes for Access Community Radio Auckland and the National Pacific Radio Trust. He has been involved with a number of other organisations including the Pacific Wardens of Auckland and the Ranui Community Centre. He is a Kiribati representative to the New Zealand Pacific Leaders Forum advising government on Pacific peoples’ affairs. Mr Kiata helped with the Kiribati conceptual framework around preventing family violence led by the Ministry of Social Development, and works as a court interpreter and language translator for the Ministry of Justice.
To be an Honorary Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
KLEINPASTE, Dr Rudolf Hendrik (Ruud)
For services to entomology, conservation and entertainment
Dr Ruud Kleinpaste is an internationally recognised entomologist, ecologist and science entertainer/educator who has promoted ecology, entomology and conservation through radio and television programmes since the 1980s.
Early in his career Dr Kleinpaste worked as an entomologist with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries for 14 years. He demonstrated an aptitude for communicating science, especially entomology, and began a radio talk back show called ‘Ruud’s Awakening’ in the late 1980s to deliver environmentally friendly horticultural tips. He has published regular newspaper and magazine columns and commenced television work with the documentary series ‘The Enduring Land’. He then worked on children’s series ‘The Early Bird Show’ before beginning a long-running association with TVNZ series ‘Maggie’s Garden Show’, which established him as an ambassador for the sciences of entomology and ecology. In the 2000s he worked on the documentary film ‘The Bughouse’, the Animal Planet documentary ‘World’s Biggest Baddest Bugs’, and the 13-part series ‘Buggin’ With Ruud’. He is currently an ecological consultant, a Trustee of Project Crimson, Kiwis for Kiwi, the Air New Zealand Environment Trust, Kids Restore New Zealand, and the Omaha Shorebird Protection Trust. Dr Kleinpaste is Patron of the Little Barrier Island Supporters Trust, the National Wetland Trust, Trees for Survival, Southland Community Environment Trust, and Wingspan.
To be an Honorary Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
MCCARTHY, Mr Alan Patrick
For services to New Zealand-Ireland relations
Mr Alan McCarthy has been New Zealand’s Honorary Consul to Ireland since 1999.
Mr McCarthy has continually supported efforts to advance New Zealand’s connections and engagement with the Irish Government, as well as building business links. As New Zealand is not represented by a resident diplomatic mission in Dublin, he has played a valuable role in maintaining and enhancing bilateral relations. He has been involved with ANZAC Day commemorations organised by the Australian Embassy and New Zealand community groups and ensured New Zealand has been represented at World War One commemorative events. He has been involved with various cultural events organised by the New Zealand Ireland Association, including helping to increase the scale of the Association’s Anzac Day memorial event from 2001 onwards. He has been a member of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s European Beachheads Advisory Board and has been instrumental in several New Zealand firms establishing themselves in Ireland. He has effectively lobbied Irish Ministers and officials on issues of interest to New Zealand, including trade access issues and customs related matters impacting on New Zealand exports entering Ireland. Mr McCarthy has a background as CEO of the Irish Trade Board and Chairman of the International Business Committee of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce.